You should live a long, healthy, vital life. And, like a candle that flickers once or twice and goes out, you should die quickly and easily, with dignity and grace.

Instead, most people live lives beset with disease, pain, and suffer long, discomforting deaths.

What can you do to increase your odds of a long, productive life of health and ease? The U.S. Department on Aging at Tufts University has found that there are three things that will reverse the aging process even into a person’s eighties and nineties.

Here they are:

1) Proper diet
2) Proper rest
3) Proper exercise (stretching, cardiovascular and weight training)

Proper diet includes the foods we eat, the water we drink and vitamins, minerals and herbs. According to nutritional research pioneer Dr. Royal Lee “whole food nutrition begins with sun, water and fertile soil.” His research showed that because of the poor quality of our soils and therefore our foods, many of us are starving for nutrients.

Many of our foods come from depleted or fertilized (petroleum by-product enriched) soils that lack the nutrients our bodies need to fight disease and correct inflammatory, painful conditions.

Whenever possible, eat whole, organic foods. The reason we eat is to fuel the chemical processes in our bodies that rebuild, repair and create new tissues. If the quality of food is poor, it would be like putting bad gasoline a car — lots of sputters and jerks.

Why organic? Many studies have been conducted that indicate that organic foods have higher vitamin and mineral contents than conventionally grown foods. The studies also show that pesticide contaminants are significantly lower in organic foods. What you eat is what you become.

Organic growing means that the soil is nutrient dense by using organic materials to supplement the soil. When the soil is healthier the plants are healthier so they can be grown without the use of man-made chemical fertilizers or pesticides. When the plants are healthier, we can be healthier.

Next time, let’s continue the “proper diet” discussion with eight herbs you can take on a regular basis to significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.